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3 October 2015

Book Review: Some Kind of Wonderful by Sarah Morgan

"Her whole life, Puffin Islander Brittany Forrest has dreamed of adventure. And at the age of eighteen, she thought she’d found it in bad boy Zachary Flynn. But after just ten tempestuous, smouldering days, their whirlwind marriage went up in smoke, and Brittany resolved to put him out of her mind forever.

Zach knows he let Brittany down, but being back on Puffin Island and seeing Brittany again stirs up long-buried emotions. This daredevil pilot has never felt worthy of her, yet he can’t stay away—even when he knows the chemistry between them will only complicate his life.

As long, hot summer days on the beach dissolve into sultry, starry nights, Brittany and Zach find that the sparks between them are more powerful than ever. Could it be that the second time around, their dreams of a happy-ever-after will finally come true?"

Rating: 5/5

Available to buy now.

This is the second book in Sarah Morgan's brilliant new 'Puffin Island' series, and boy, is it a corker! I loved the first story in the series, First Time in Forever, and was so excited to be reading the second story, this time based around the character of Brittany, someone who appeared somewhat briefly in the previous book. The cover is beautifully summery, with it's gorgeous colours and images of Puffin Island, I couldn't wait to dive in and get started on this one, and of course, Sarah didn't let me down! Despite the fact it is a sequel, you can definitely enjoy this as a standalone novel, so don't be put off!

Brittany loves adventure, and that's exactly what her job as an archaelogist gives her - she travels the world on digs, and loves everything about it. However, when she badly breaks her wrist, she's forced to return home to Puffin Island for the first time in a long while, and happens to bump into her ex husband Zachary while she's there. Brittany doesn't plan on feelings coming rushing back to her, and soon the pair are butting heads, trying to put off the chemistry that is so clearly there between them. As the summer plods on, the pair try their best not to act on their feelings, but is something wonderful about to start between them both?!

As I said, we didn't meet the character of Brittany too much in the first book, but enough to know a bit about her job, and her close friendships with the other two girls in the series - Emily, who starred in the first book First Time in Forever, and Skylar, who is the main character in the final book Christmas Ever After which is coming very soon, yippee! I really liked Brittany from the beginning - she's very headstrong, works hard and enjoys success in her career as well as travelling around the world. She's also determined to remain single after a whirlwind marriage in her teenage years to Zachary which has haunted her somewhat.

As the pair collide again on her re-arrival onto Puffin Island, the feelings that they never really got over come rushing back. Zachary is painted of something of a bad boy, breaking Brittany's heart when he ran out on their marriage all those years ago, and pretty much cutting himself off from everything else at the same time, thanks to his troubled childhood. Despite the way he's portrayed, I really liked Zachary from the beginning - I could sense that there was a kind heart underneath the cold exterior. I did want Brittany to give him another chance, time to explain what had happened before and for the pair to rekindle things, but so many times in the book it seemed so unlikely, they fought like cat and dog!

What I loved about this book is the slow pace of it, with Morgan describing both sides of the story well enough for us a reader to be able to get involved and invested in their tale. I liked how Morgan slowly reveals Zachary's background, giving us some explanation towards his reluctance to open up to anyone, and you can't help but feel sorry for what he went through. Brittany, equally, had a bit of a tumultuous upbringing, so they seem to be kindred spirits of sorts. Another thing I fell in love with thanks to the amazing writing of Sarah Morgan was Puffin Island itself - it sounds so magical, full of wonder and exciting places to discover, that you can't help but want to visit there yourself! You can see why Brittany, Zachary and co are happy to call the island home, it sounds just perfect! I loved everything about this book, it left me with a big smile on my face, and I just fell in love with the whole thing. I cannot wait for the final book in the series - it's certainly got big expectations to live up to now! Read this now, you won't be disappointed!